Another Good Man Down

LET me add my sentiments to those who grieve for the late Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo of Naga City, to complement the thousands of messages (including those on social media network) thus far conveyed unto his grieving family.

Fate perhaps had it for the good and hardworking PNoy's cabinet member who had a phobia for riding on small planes but ironically crash-landed in one that he perished in his haste to go home to satisfy his daughter's craving for his presence.

I never met the man up close but from television and newspaper reports, I've had enough data to picture him as one of a kind, sui generis, a true-blue public servant. From a third class municipality, he exerted gargantuan efforts and political will as mayor of Naga City to transform it into a progressive urban area and to cap this achievement; he even became president of the League of Cities of the Philippines! A masters' degree holder from Harvard, he put to good use the skill he acquired from the very prestigious US institution to map out good governance for local government units under his department's ambit, along with the PNP, BFP and BJMP and other offices attached to it. He did what he preached: he urged his fellow government officials to serve best the public and not the public serving the officials. He walked the streets of Naga in slippers and ordinary t-shirt and had a ready smile to whoever he came in contact with. Such humility is a rare trait of most government officials who are often arrogant and snobbish.

The multi-awarded former Naga City mayor and secretary of the powerful DILG before his demise, in the words of the Philippine Daily Inquirer editors "led by example -working long hours, dressing casually, eschewing bodyguards". A fine example indeed. Too sorry, he's gone too soon and no amount of posthumous recognition can bring him back to life, including his scheduled confirmation as DILG top gun. Too late the honors, the honoree has already gone to his Creator. Anyway, the void left by Secretary Robredo must be hard to fill, unless the successor be as honest, humble and competent like him. In hindsight, haven't you noticed that the two dead plane occupants had almost similar names? Jesse Robredo and Jessup Bahinting.

--oo0oo--

In the face of rising prices for electric power, why should we not consider and support the bill being pushed by Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino? In his House Bill No. 4045, Casino proposes to install thousands of solar panels in homes to help consumers reduce their electricity expenses. And why not?

In the explanatory note, HB 4045, otherwise known as One Million Solar Roofs Act, "seeks to provide incentives and financing to allow electricity consumers like residences, offices and small-to-medium scale enterprises to install solar panels in their homes, offices or small factories".

This bill would also "allow home owners and entrepreneurs to take out loans from PagIbig, GSIS, SSS and other financial institutions to purchase solar panels and pay back the loan out of the amounts of savings they incur from using solar power".

And what about non-members of these aforecited financial institutions? How would they get the so-called incentives and financing to purchase the solar panels?
Casino explains that solar power technology can allow electricity consumers to be producers themselves and that solar technology "can be an immediate and sustainable way to deal with the country's energy problems, especially with the abundance of solar energy throughout the country and the modular nature of solar energy systems". So, solar energy, anyone?

--oo0oo--

I would like to felicitate with the people of Magalang who will observe their town fiesta today, with St. Augustine as their patron saint.

Magalang, dubbed as the region's cleanest in the previous beautification contests, is headed by the hardworking and no nonsense Mayor Romulo "Romy" Pecson who will be a shoo-in in the next mayoralty race in 2013. Mayor Pecson had introduced several infra projects in his town and investors are slowly but surely coming in.